TOUR DIARY #3 Parts 1 AND 2!!!!

New Flip cam means..... NEW TOUR DIARIES!!!! James may be somewhere else.... but he's been reliving Augusta all day in editing :) Enjoy!

Part 1:



Part 2:


Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

NCTC Rocks My Socks

Our 3rd show at North Central Texas College and it gets better every time!!! :)

We played at the Gainesville campus tonight and it was a packed show...

Jaci Butler and one of "Those Guys" showed up!

We got a standing ovation...

These sweet 2 little girls were dancing and twirling the whole time :)

The kids rushed the stage for "Devil Went Down To Georgia"

We signed guitars... lots of guitars! :)

People showed up sporting their Team Stovall and Peace Love Fiddle Tee's from previous shows!

A poster advertising the show had "OMG" written in gold puff paint... don't those 2 just go hand in hand??



And now we are driving overnight again to Houston. I just switched off and let James take over the wheel. I have some GREAT pics from tonight, but they aren't cooperating with "Van internet" Puff Paint seems to be the only winner... :) So I'll have to load the rest later.

But I want to wish Autumn a VERY Happy Birthday!!!! Thanks for coming to the show tonight.

Metro Spirit Article

Metro Spirit Article:

On the road
Natalie Stovall may not be a household name, but that may all change soon enough for this all-American girl

BY ALICE WYNN

AUGUSTA, GA – One wouldn’t think that winning the title of Silliest Kid in America would lead to bigger and better things. But for Natalie Stovall, that’s exactly what happened. Of course, she was no stranger to the stage.

“I started playing the violin when I was four and, when I was about 10, I auditioned for the Opryland Kids Club, which was a show out at the Opryland theme park, and I played my fiddle for them and they were like, ‘That’s great honey, but you have to sing in this show,’ and I sang ‘Happy Birthday’ for them and I got the job,” she said from the road en route to Pennsylvania.

Winning the Silliest Kid title, which she won by doing a “crazy ventriloquist baby crying thing that I had learned backstage at the Opryland show,” led to an appearance on Oprah, followed by other talk shows and radio spots, which prepared her for the road ahead.

“It was a really incredible experience to get as a child performer and only helped develop me and get me ready for doing it all the time now.”



During her second year at the Berklee College of Music, Stovall formed a band that would move to Nashville during the summer, staying at her parents’ house while touring around Tennessee. After graduation, Stovall and her drummer James, who last year became her husband, moved to Nashville and found some musicians to tour with. They have been at it ever since, and have spent the better part of the past two years on the road.

“It’s part of making it happen for myself as an independent artist,” she explained. “I don’t have any record label or anybody writing the checks for me, so I gotta go out and do it myself. It can be very hard and it can be very stressful, but it’s been pretty amazing to watch. I write a blog every day and the traffic keeps coming from doing it and really being on the road, and that’s what’s rewarding about it.”

A country girl at heart, Stovall cites Keith Urban, Shania Twain and Garth Brooks as some of her favorites.

“I always really love to watch the people that put on really amazing live shows,” she said.

“That’s kind of where I get going is watching people that really put a lot of time and energy into their live material. That’s where I draw a lot of inspiration from.”

Her shows, although rooted in country, mix things up a bit, with covers such as Prince’s “Purple Rain” and Guns n’ Roses’ “Sweet Child O’ Mine.” And because she plays the fiddle, Charlie Daniels’ “The Devil Went Down to Georgia” is a given. In fact, she included the song on her upcoming EP, “Standing My Ground.”

“We put it on the record to give everybody a little something from our live show,” she said.

For her first record, “Late Night Conversations” released in 2006, she wrote all of the material. But the new record enlisted the help of co-writers, including Taylor Swift producer Nathan Chapman.

“It was a totally different venture for me, but the more that I started co-writing, the more I really, really liked that environment for writing because it allowed me to kind of take these ideas I always had and bounce them off someone else,” she said. “It was just fun because it gives a different perspective for the new record and I’m just really excited to release it.”

Natalie Stovall
The Country Club
Saturday, October 3
Doors, 7 p.m.; music, 9:30 p.m.
$5, guys; $3, girls
myspace.com/nataliestovall
augustacountry.com

Anybody Want a Thin Mint?

Today was our second show in Washington State. :) And we got paid in girl scout cookies. Anybody want a thin mint? Cause we walked away with a whole case!!!

We were at Naval Station Everett, and the event was called their "Fall Kick-off", and the day couldn't have been more perfect for such an event! It felt like fall. A crisp, cool breeze, a bit overcast, burgers on the grill, an outdoor show. It was perfect. And it didn't rain!! WOO HOOO! That's a win right there. :)

We started off the morning by taking a ferry from Bremerton to Seattle. I had Ivars clam chowder for breakfast :) Normally my stomach wouldn't go for that, but I have been looking forward to Ivars for over a year now!!! MMM... It was just as good as I remember. And the fact that we were riding on a ferry, eating food, hanging out and talking while looking at beautiful scenery... well, that was WAY better than driving!!!

James is very special. So much so that he had his very own tent today. They had huge tents covering the staging area, but the very back end wasn't covered. It would have just left his drum set and him without a cover, so they put an entire tent just over him. Pretty awesome.


This was our whole crew that took care of us!

Julie was our girl!



These dudes were JAMMIN. The younger brother on the right was air drummin like his life depended on it! And they picked the perfect spot for a picture. I think the steps were a GREAT idea guys!



And this whole family sat in the front the WHOLE concert!!! They were the first ones to rush the stage for Devil!

And here's a little something for farm boy:
Allene the beautiful girl at the end was born in a gas station. They joked that they couldn't call her "Ethenol" ;) So her name is "Allene" LOVE IT! (Unless they were pulling my leg. Which is totally possible. But I'm pretty sure they were serious)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~Natalie

Quantico Article About Our Show

I just saw this article online and had to share...

It's the first time anyone has ever said that I have "The charm of a southern belle with the grit of a trucker" Not sure how to feel about that trucker part, but you know... I AM pretty hardcore. ; )~

For the original:
Quantico Natalie Stovall Article

Or you can read it here:

Peace, Love, Fiddle

By: Cpl. Sean P. Cummins

MCB QUANTICO, Va. (July 26) -- A mob of concert goers pressed against the stage shouting lyrics and pumping their fists in time with the music during a free concert Sunday night.
Armed with the charm of southern belle and grit of a trucker, rising country songwriter and musician Natalie Stovall brought the crowd at Barnett Field to their feet.

‘‘She definitely gets the crowd going,” said Sgt. Mark E. Dean, 27, from Owasso, Okla. ‘‘She’s up there dancing, having a good time. She was awesome.”

Members of the Single Marine Program chose Stovall after attending a conference featuring numerous comedians, magicians and bands. Her ability to get the crowd on its feet set her apart from the rest, said Cpl. Hiram M. Hernandez, vice president of the Single Marine Program.

‘‘She’s a great entertainer. Not only was her music good, but she was also a real good entertainer over all. She got the crowd lively,” said Hernandez, 22, from Jacksonville, Fla. ‘‘[She’s the] cute, girl-next-door country girl and a good entertainer; that’s why we picked her.”

Stovall treated the crowd to a variety of songs from her first album, ‘‘Late Night Conversations” and her still-unreleased sophomore album. She and her band also put their own twist on a few classic songs such as ‘‘Pour Some Sugar on Me,” and one of her own self-declared favorites, ‘‘Devil Went Down to Georgia,” by The Charlie Daniel’s Band.

‘‘The military is always one of the best audiences. They’re so appreciative; it’s an honor for us to play for people who are doing so much for the country,” Stovall said.

Her outspoken appreciation for the Marine Corps raked in some hoots and hollers, but her penchant for mixing it up with the crowd may have earned her a couple of fans. Stovall joked with the crowd between shows and shared the microphone with Marines who knew the words to her songs.

‘‘My favorite part was when I sang with her, with my hand on the microphone with her hand,” said Pvt. Taylor J. Kihn, Miamisburg, Ohio. ‘‘I would go see her again today, tomorrow, yesterday, next week. It’s all good.”

Members of the Single Marine Program plan to continue bringing bigger acts to the Marines at Quantico in the upcoming year.

‘‘Our goal coming into this was to shoot for the stars and take it from there. This is one of the first big concerts we’ve done and it was a good turn out,” Hernandez said. ‘‘Hopefully, next year we can do an even bigger concert.”

Potato Skins Are Just The Carriers

"The way I see it.... potato skins are just the carriers for the cheese and bacon. The same way that the vocal is just the carrier for the fiddle."

Ben Strano (friend, engineer, co-producer aka The Sonic Fedora) upon discussing the vocals for "Devil Went Down To Georgia".

Turns out there's a BIG difference in singing this one on stage and in the studio. I think we were all a bit aware that this would be the case. I'm pretty animated when I sing this song live. It's hard not to be. It is such a fun and energetic song. But again. Recording is a microscope. And if I tried to sing this on the record as hard and excited as I sing it live? Well, it would sound almost cartoon-like... theatrical, if you will. And even though it is a song about a fiddle contest between the devil and a good-ole Georgia boy.... the song is cool as well... (sorry but I gotta...) hell. (You know, Devil... Hell... I'm a dork!)

I've always noticed that rappers do that... everything is way more hyped live because it is harder to get energy across when you are speaking. Never knew I'd be drawing inspiration from Jay-Z or 50 Cent in the studio. Just call me a Southern Ghetto-Fabulous Belle.

The other thing that is so different about the studio... NOTHING sounds like it will once it is mixed. When Ben is done EQ-ing and compressing my voice and mixing the track... it will sound sound a million times better than it does as we listen back right now. And the EQ-ing automatically makes it sound like it has more energy. We were talking about this... And the way I described it to him was... it's like the different between a matte black and a really sharp, rich, glossy black. (I was thinking in color because one of the photo set-ups yesterday was in front of a matte black wall) Ben's mix will take my voice, put it right in your face and it will go from the flat, matte black to a beautiful rich glossy black.

If I've lost you in all this talk between mixes and potatoe skins and matte or glossy finish, I apologize. But you probably know me by now if you are reading this, and you know it is 4am :)

Miguel and Ella get home from Chile tomorrow morning!!! They are probably in our hemisphere by now :)

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
Southern Ghetto Fabulous Nat

Cinnamon Does NOT Like The Devil

While I was recording the "Devil's part" on "Devil Went Down To Georgia"... Cinnamon hopped up on James' shoulder and crouched as close to his face as possible. She was completely on alert and terrified.



So I guess I did my job. :)

I had to explain to her later that it wasn't really the Devil... it's only a song where I pretend to be the devil.

I love that dog.

Being in the studio is such a crazy world. It is so easy to get really REALLY nit-picky... listening to one note at a time to make things perfect. But that's not really the point, is it? Who wants to hear perfect? It's all about capturing the best performance possible.

Sometimes that's easier said than done. I have a tendency to pick apart every squeak, every time I "accidentally hit" another string... almost like I am getting a "lesson dot" in Suzuki. (That's when you had to play a song PERFECT before you could move on to get a lesson dot on the next song in the book) But the crazy squeak's and scratches are sometimes the character and charisma that makes a specific performance magical.

I'm a lot better at determining that when I am doing vocals. But I guess recording fiddle parts is a much newer venture for me. ESPECIALLY something as intense and crazy melodically as "Devil Went Down To Georgia". Recording a cover is difficult. There is an expectation there of how awesome it should be. Charlie Daniels wrote a real winner with that one. :) And so maybe there is a little added pressure trying to put that one down in recorded form. But it's been such a huge part of every show for me for so long that it was one of the more obvious choices. Now I just have to deliver, in a big way.

James, Ben, and I (and Cinnamon) were sitting outside on a break... discussing the whole "not making it TOO perfect" thing. Cause I was talking about how someone like Aubrey Haney, Tammy Rogers, or Rob Hajacos would play on a record. (Some of the fiddle players I LOVE). And Ben was saying... "well... yeah, but you wouldn't hire Jimi Hendrix to cut guitars on your record." He was saying there's a difference between a FIDDLE PLAYER and an artist who sings, writes, and plays the fiddle. So then I was using Keith Urban as an example. He is a monster guitar player. And I strive to beas great a fiddle player as Keith Urban is guitar player. I still have a ways to go, but touring and playing as much as possible is what's getting me there.

And then tonight I saw this article and it made me all aglow. Guess I am doing EXACTLY what I should be doing to reach that goal.
Keith Urban Grateful For Lessons From Bar

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Recording My EP on Music Row

Today was bananas. In the BEST possible way.

Remember when you were a kid and you'd go swimming ALLL DAY long on a hot day with your friends? And at the end of the day you'd realize how exhausted you were, but it didn't matter because you had so much fun playing Marco Polo, Sharks and Minnows, and doing flips off the diving board?

That was today. Only the pool was the studio.

It was an entire day of eyes bugged from being so focused...
Heart racing from adrenaline pumping...
Ears buzzing from amps blazing...
And brain spinning from quick decision making...

I was "Mayering" all day. Definition of Mayering: Tweeting all day about recording an album. :) I liked that one. John Mayer has officially become a verb. :)

I knew today would be amazing. But I didn't REALLY know all at the same time.

This time I am coming from such a different perspective. We recorded the first record before we had a band and were playing out very much. So playing with the musicians was the first time I had heard the songs with a full band. But THIS time, we have been playing these songs for a while. I know them all so well. So hearing the new ideas and approaches the session players bring makes me feel like a kid in a candy store.

I can't wait to go in and listen to everything tomorrow.

You know what was crazy, though? The only cover song we did - "Devil Went Down To Georgia" was by far the hardest one of the day! That REALLY threw them (and me) for a loop! I wasn't expecting that at all. We have played that song for so long I almost forgot how tricky the form is. But it's not at all like the typical "verse, chorus, Verse, chorus" form. So you have to KNOW it to be able to play it. Michael Rhodes told me he was glad we did that because he had never had to play it before! And Gary said that he doesn't even think he has ever listened to the whole thing.
Everyone studying/ writing/ rewriting/ trying to understand their "Devil" charts


You know it's the REAL DEAL when 7 out of the 9 people involved in the session are wearing Chucks.


This was a puuuurty room:
Rhodes Basses & Audley's guitars


Gary's guitars - same room, other side... the one on the chair reminds me of a Vans Sneaker. Remember those?


Everybody! (Well, CJ, the studio manager, was taking the pic)
Left To Right:

James you know... Bavendam :), Audley Freed, Gary Burnette, ummm... me, Greg Morrow, Ben Strano, Scott Velazco, Michael Rhodes

The 1/8 note I found on the pavement in front of the back door of the studio :)


And just so you know... THIS is what you get when you pay for a high class studio on Music row:


I can't believe today just happened.

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

Texas A&M Commerce and The Red Chair in the Street

We played an afternoon show at "The Club" on Texas A&M Commerce's campus today. It is a BRAND new facility for students and is a really cool place. They have a stage built in complete with lights and sound... cafes and little stations for food. And today there was a huge high school bilingual competition going on. So there were hundreds of kids just hanging out! It was really fun. They had ALL kinds of competitions... music... plays.... poetry.... pretty cool stuff!
The show was great, and Rick, our wonderful contact who took GREAT care of us, introduced me to some new green tea with Goji berry that I LOVED! MMmmmm.

Kathrin is an exchange student from Germany and was one of the judges for the (take a guess!) German competitions.


Fellow musicians :) They were competing in the music categories... in spanish! And they totally rushed the stage and did the "We're not worthy" bows during "Devil". I <3 them.


My first wallet signing. :) It was a fancy one too! I may need to reevaluate my big ole ugly wallet... hers was adorable. And now it says "Peace, Love, Fiddle" YAY!


Another one of the awesome guys taking care of us all day. He was running sound, loading and unloading equipment, making sure we had everything we needed. He was all-around awesome!


Some actual college students!!! :) There were a lot of students at the show, too. But the high schoolers made up most of the crowd.


And AFTER the show.... we headed on to Frozen Fire Films in Dallas to do a photo shoot. It was SO much fun!!! We did this one shot in this awesome red chair...
Travis, the photographer, said "What if we did some shots in the red chair in the middle of the street with the skyline in the background?" We were all game... but it was a TEAM effort! There was traffic... it was a little crazy. We were having to do it when the traffic was stopped at a light. Stacy was on the corner making sure nothing unexpected was coming, Randy had the reflector, Travis had the camera, Miguel had the chair, and James was helping me with the fiddle and the video camera!!!
We'd run out - Miguel would put the chair in the street, we'd get a few shots and then have to strike it all to let the cars pass.... and then we'd do it all over again until we got everything we needed. It was like an action movie :) Well... not really.... only in my head.... but it was really funny.... AND exciting. I loved it.

I can't wait to see all the pics - especially the ones in the street! We bought a hard drive tonight at Walmart to download them all tomorrow. The files are huge so it will take a TON of space. These guys do such great work though. It will be REALLY nice to have some new pics!

I have to get up on 3 hours for TWO shows! :) Life on the road!

Peace, Love, Fiddle, and GOODNIGHT!
~natalie

APCA... 2 Years Ago

Whoa.

I got a google alert for a new video posted and I figured it was from a recent performance at a show. :) Buuuuuuuut NOPE!!! It is from almost 2 years ago. This was from our first National APCA (Association for the Promotion of Campus Activities) Conference. My.... how far we've ALL come :) I forgot about this hairdo! I LOVE doing my hair like that but just haven't in a while. :) This was one of Hootie's first gigs with us.... his hair is so shaggy, I'm still playing my wood fiddle, Miguel has REALLY short hair, Charlie was still with us, James still wore his Red Sox hat onstage, and we just start "Devil" outright without any kind of intro!!

This is one of those conferences where we only have 15 minutes and I LOVE our song selection :)

We JUST did this conference again about a month ago (you're only allowed to do the national conferences every OTHER year). We had one of the best conferences we have EVER had at this last one. And it's pretty eye opening to see how we approached this show 2 years ago compared to a month ago. I have to say that I am so happy that my "best" song is no longer a ballad. :) I love "If I Run to You Now' but it sure helps to have more of an uptempo song when you only have 15 minutes for the whole set!

Enjoy this blast from the past! I sure did!


Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

Fun Stuff to Wake Up To

I love this world of internetin' and blogging. Not only do I get to post my own thoughts and pictures about each show and adventure on the road, but I get to wake up every morning and see what others have posted. I wake up to new pictures, videos, comments, and messages every day. It is one of the most rewarding feelings! There have been all kinds of fun things posted lately, so I have to share with you some of my favorites...

An incredibly talented photographer named Danielle Barden and her husband Jared came to the Josh Gracin show in Mansfield. I am so thankful they did!!! She posted some incredible pics of the show the next day, and I have been using this one as my main photo on facebook and myspace the past week. :)



She also wrote a blog about the show which includes a lot more pictures here:

Danielle's Blog

If you are in the Mansfield PA area and need beautiful photos taken - you should call Danielle! Her portfolio is really impressive. Thank you for letting me use your awesome photos Danielle!!!
Barden Photography Website


And THEN I saw ANOTHER blog posted by a Barden. :) Her husband posted one because he uploaded some videos from the show. :)
It is such a cool thing to see the show from the audience perspective!! Here's the cool vids he posted:

This is a clip of Miguel and me playing a bit of Freebird :)



Oh you "Devil" you.


And this one is another that showed up that I thought was pretty cool. :) I think someone from the school posted this video.


We made it to New York tonight. I am heading out to Long Branch tomorrow to do a bit of writing with Gordon Brown... no... not the Prime Minister... but this Gordon is JUST as cool! He's one of my favorites to write with! So help me channel good songwritin vibes for tomorrow! :)

Peace, Love, Fiddle,
~natalie

Videos That Appear As If From Nowhere :)

I love it when I wake up and a new video has appeared on Youtube of one of our shows. :) That's a GOOD surprise. And it never gets old.

Someone posted videos from the audience at one of the NACA shows we did in the fall. :) It's so fun to see something like this from the audience perspective!!!


And she also posted "Even Alaska". It was funny to watch this one :) This was before I had settled on a key - so it is a half step down from where I sing it now. It sounds so low!!! Originally, we started a whole step up from this key... but after a few tries I didn't like it. Then we went down to F.... and now we are in F#. And F# seems to be the key of the year :) I always do that - not intentionally - but I'll go through phases where I gravitate to a specific key. It use to be "D"
It's also before Miguel and I added the fiddle/guitar jam at the end. I like the way it ends now. :)


Happy Monday!

Peace. Love. Fiddle.
~natalie

Awesome Video from Cameron University

I have something I want to share with everyone. :)



I want to say a HUGE thank you to Ryan Faucett for posting this video!!! It made my day!

Peace, Love, Fiddle,

Jessica Simpson's Breakdown

I am a bit fired up at the moment. Normally I don't say things like this, especially publicly, but something about this just really struck a nerve with me. A few nights ago, I heard about the "disastrous" opening Jessica Simpson had for Rascal Flatts in Grand Rapids, Mi.

Let me start out by saying:
I was so excited when I heard that Jessica Simpson was "going country" because I thought it could be a good thing for country music. She's just the kind of person that could take country to an even wider audience for people who may not have given us "southern folk with our simple talk" a shot. Jessica is one of those people that I think has an incredible voice. I do get a little frustrated sometimes with how she uses it, but she has a natural gift and range that is undeniable.

When she started, her ability to belt out a song was impressive to me. And as a teenager who was also saving myself for marriage - I fell in LOVE with her. The song she wrote at the end of her first record for her future husband (before she knew who he was gonna be) was so beautiful.

I have loved many of her songs along the way. And her country songs are even better. "Come On Over" Good Lord. Adorable. Hooky, catchy, fun to listen to. (but not easy to sing!) The writers she got to co-write with for her her record are people that I have looked up to for years.

The reports of the Rascal Flatts concert talk about her forgetting lyrics, letting her background singers take over for her, mouthing "I'm sorry" into the video monitors, sulking around on stage, being visibly flustered, and even crying in between songs. Part of me didn't want to believe someone as talented and successful as she is would ever act like that, but the part of me that was tweaked wanted to see it for myself. I decided to do some research and try to find actual video footage from the concert.

The thing that makes me crazy? It's not that bad! Yeah, she was having a rough vocal night, but if she wouldn't throw her arms up in the air in the middle of a chorus and just STOP singing.... you'd never know she was having so much trouble. There are so many things she could have done to cover up her rough vocal night. In the chorus of "Come On Over" she is obviously having problems hitting the high notes. So what? That's not the worst thing in the world. Just DON'T SING THE HIGH NOTES... take the melody down... OR hold the mic out and let your fans help you sing it...

If she could have let go and had a good time, she still could have had an amazing show. It's such a shame. It breaks my heart, actually. As a fan and someone who is rooting for her, it disappoints me. It makes her seem so self-centered (even if she isn't). Like the show is "all about her". It's not about having a perfect voice. There are singers out there that have had MUCH worse vocal nights, but they knew how to play it off so the audience didn't know. You guys in the audience understand that we aren't perfect. If you can't cancel the show, you just find a way to make it work. No matter what's going on backstage, onstage, or at home, there is no excuse to give up on your audience like that.

As another performer who is far from perfect, I have performed sick, thrown up between sets... songs... done 5 hour shows with so little voice - all I could do between sets was cry... broken down backstage because of boyfriends... And it's not because I'm so cool... God knows I'm not... It's just what you have to do as a performer. There's a responsibility that comes with being blessed enough to do this for a living. And the really funny thing? Those shows weren't even for 9,000 people.... not even for 900... Sometimes not even close. The only thing that matters is that, no matter how many of you there are, YOU GUYS don't know how sick or upset I am during the show. If you find out later, fine. But I will do my very best while I'm on stage to give you everything I've got, even if its not as much as I want it to be. Why? BECAUSE IT'S MY JOB. And I love what I do SO much. When it comes show time - it's not about me anymore. It's about making sure you are having a good time. And if I am lucky enough to get the point where I am so famous that the media is printing lies about me or "fat pictures" (though I can't imagine how upsetting that would be), I hope I never lose sight of what really matters.

I'm human, my band can attest to that... There are times where I have had to remind myself of all things I have said here. All the things I wish I could have said to Jessica right before she went out on stage.

You know what's amazing, though? When performers get out of our ego-centric little worlds - it is AMAZING how much better we do if we just rely on you guys. The audience is what helped me make it through one of the biggest and most difficult shows of my life. We had our National showcase for NACA in St. Louis last year... I had been in the ER for flu 14 hours before the show in Nashville. It was awful. I was so sick and I had such a thin little voice. I was throwing up in the bathroom 15 minutes before the show listening to some girls talk about how they heard this "Natalie" girl can play "Devil Wen Down to Georgia" and that they hoped it was good... I was laying down on the cement off stage until the moment they introduced me. We were even doing "Sweet Child of Mine" in that set - and Sweet Child is one of my toughest songs even when I'm 100%. It was FAR from perfect. I had a coughing fit in the middle of "If I Run To You Now... But with all that stuff going on, all I had to do was look out and see the audience up in the front, jumping around and screaming. It kept my adrenaline pumping and kept me on my feet. And I know way too many performers that would have done the exact same thing.

You guys expect us to do our job for YOU because you are doing your job for US. That's why when I hear about this whole Jessica thing, it gets so frustrating - for all the people out there who haven't "made it" yet that would never act like that. It doesn't matter that she had a bad night. I just can't believe someone I've liked as much as her gave up like that and let her audience down...

If you come to my show - there's a reason you're there. Sometimes I may need to lean on you for a little support. But no matter what happens, I won't ever give up during a show. I may not be in tip-top vocal condition every night, and I may not always be able to hit the most impressive notes. But I promise you won't care and hopefully not even notice because I will give you my all... Every time. I promise.

Cool Article Write up in Royse City, TX

Rising artist shooting video during Royse City concert

Friday night show at ‘The Well’ free and open to public

David Wilfong
Royse City Herald-Banner
If you’re an up-and-coming country music artist and you take the time to perform shows for American soldiers at Fort Benning...that’s commendable.

If you have been invited to sing “God Bless America” for the President of the Untied States at the White House Correspondents Association Dinner...that’s impressive.

If you can figure out a way to insert Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” into the middle of a Charlie Daniels song and actually make it work...well, that’s darn near musical genius.

That is one feat actually accomplished by a young lady who will be performing in Royse City on Friday night.

Natalie Stovall will be stopping in town for a free performance at The Well, Royse City’s relatively new Main Street java joint.

Her sound is described as “a little bit Dixie Chicks, little bit rockin’ and a whole lot of party fun.”

A quick perusal of videos available on YouTube reveals that this is an energetic young performer with a lot of skills, a lot of personality and a more than a bit of that distinctly southern, infectious “girl-next-door” charm.

Her resume goes back quite a ways. She can boast of having performed as a child on the Oprah Winfrey show and spent some of her formative years as a young performer in Opryland.

She wraps all of her experience and drive into the mantra “Peace, Love and Fiddle!”

Stovall will be taking the stage at The Well Coffee Lounge at 7:30 p.m. She will be playing songs from her upcoming CD as well as some classic originals and covers.

Natalie has played for the past several years at college campuses, military bases and various venues in the music scene coast to coast.

She ended last year’s tour in Florida by opening a show for the legendary Doobie Brothers. After a year of playing larger venues, Natalie said she is excited “to get into a small, intimate setting where she can connect with her audience.”

The concert in Royse City will be a filming opportunity for Stovall as she is working with Frozen Fire Films producer Brad Davis.

Davis, a resident of Heath, works out his second passion for music through Wayrock entertainment; bringing music shows to the Ray Hubbard area.

It might be good to up one’s stock by attending this Friday’s show. After all, Stovall asserts that, “I think people who come to my shows automatically qualify as the coolest people ever!”

Texas to "almost Canada" trip

We played at MSU in Wichita Falls, Texas on Saturday for their family day!!! They had a mechanical bull, games, face painting, all kinds of fun things to do!!!! It was so hot, my bow broke!!! That's never happened before. The hair on my bow loosened so much, I couldn't play with it! I was a little paniced the first song, cause I wasn't sure how in the WORLD I was gonna play the rest of the show..... I mean, I could have cut my own hair off and fashioned together some kind of bow.... but that would have taken at least an hour and a half and it was only an hour-long show. Luckily I had a spare that I completely forgot about in my case. Whew. Pat on the back for that one!



And I have to thank Tiffany for the pics! (I just stole them off facebook where she posted them!)



We left a scorching hot Texas on Sunday and our next show is 1,306 miles away in Marquette Michigan which is almost all the way to Canada! We are currently in a hotel room in Appleton, WI and my sunburn from Texas is quickly fading into windburn up here. It is COLD. I mean, not really - I'm a wuss... but it's all relative. :) I am looking forward to going back to Marquette, though. It is such a beautiful, quaint little downtown. We'll play at Upfront & Company on Wed and Thurs nights. They have GREAT food and a really fun stage and dance floor. Oh, we'll be doing the line dance :)

James' Aunt Deana noticed that we would be driving right through Iowa City on our way to Marquette and offered to provide a little room and board for us, which we GLADLY took her up on!!!!
We drove 16 1/2 hours the first day to get to Iowa City (took longer than normal because of the interstate traffic at 11pm... go figure) We definitely got some good footage for the next Tour Diary of our ridiculous attempts at guitar hero. I got booed off the stage trying to play "Devil Went Down to Geaorgia" but it's ok. I took out my aggression by boxing James on the Wii. :)

And wow. Home cooked food. MMMMMM. So good. Thanks for everything Aunt Deana!

Peace, Love, Fiddle Y'all.